" I'm Feeling, Good " (that's a song)

Let's see, there are a few things I really want to focus on this school year and set some personal goals. I always think about goals that I have (or could have, or should have), but I do much better with them when I tell someone what I plan to do. So I figure, if I tell the world-wide-web... then I will be sure to keep with my goals because I'll know everyone is expecting me to. (Whether or not anyone actually is expecting anything is beside the point..)
So here goes.

1. I want to keep school work at school to save time for personal study at home.
2. I will forever be working on daily scripture study.
3. Keep up with homework. No getting behind or piled up.
4. Motivate myself through the whole semester. I know I'm feeling good and hopeful now. I just need to keep it that way.
5. Trust God.

Well, that's what it comes down to. I'm sure if I sat here for another hour I could have a really good (and a lot longer) list. But I feel content with the five I have right now. No need to overwhelm myself too quickly.

But I really do love the feeling at the beginning of a school year. I feel so motivated and determined and all ready to hit the ground running. It's a good feeling. The problem is, when it gets later in the semester and I don't feel like doing anything. So my list of goals is hopefully going to help me. We'll see what happens.

This is Why I Want to Teach Music

This morning I went with Spencer, Aaron, Tim and Ryan to see Music and the Spoken Word at the Conference Center. It was the first time I had seen anything in the Conference Center. And it was incredible! I loved it! The music was so amazing. I can't believe how great the acoustics were with the choir and orchestra. (music nerd moment) It was way cool! Recordings of the choir and orchestra are good, but nothing beats being there and experiencing it in person.



My favorite piece was the organ solo that as played. It was phenomenal! The sound was everywhere! It was so cool. And the organist was way good. I have no idea how they can play that fast with so many different lines and harmonies going on. But the sound of it definitely made it my favorite.


The story that was told was talking about how teachers have the ability to affect generations. It was a really cute little story. But the whole thing just reminded me of why I want to teach music. One, because music is very powerful. Two, because I want to help and positively affect people. So you put the two together and guess what you get. The secret to (my) life :)

First Day of Classes (round 2 for me)

Well look at that. Another first day down... and I have survived. (Although... I almost didn't because I couldn't see that car coming on the other side of the parked car when I was crossing the crosswalk..... Good thing their brakes worked.) I like being a sophomore better than being a freshmen (duh!) because I already feel like I know everything (about campus) and I'm not so worried about what I'm doing or how I'm going to get there.

Classes went pretty well. I'm only taking music classes this semester. No general classes at all this semester. Strictly music classes for me. I basically never leave David Gardner Hall. I did get a gianourmous locker this year though, so I won't have to use everyone else's. :) I got all my books ($$totally ridiculous!$$), started filling out my paper for private lessons, made it through the day.... even started on homework. I think we're off to a good start thus far.

My favorite thing is Marching Band class after we have had band camp. Because it feels like class is just getting going when Brian says "Ok, one more run of that and we'll be done." And we're all left there thinking. What?! Seriously??? AWESOME :)  so it definitely feels like that fastest part of the day.

The only downer is the homework that is already started. I'm actually blogging right now only because my Music History textbook was putting me to sleep. So I had to change activities. Other than that, I'm almost done :) It was a pretty good day in all, and I'm ready for tomorrow too.

Back to School :)

Band camp has started and is now underway :) I have been having lots of fun with it. And today Andrew Cortes gave me a great compliment today. It was pretty cool. I've been having lots of fun being on the leadership team. It's kind of a lot of work, but I think it's worth it.

So after band camp tonight, I decided to use the bananas that are going bad.... and what better way to find some use for them than... Pinterest!! :) So here is the recipe that I'm trying out, right now, as I type. It's in the oven.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

So here's to hoping that it turns out tasty. Aaron said the dough tastes good, so I'm not too worried. It is Aaron approved.

Sick of Being Sick

Oh my freak. I am so sick of being sick. It's terrible!

So I started feeling awful the night of March 30th. Yeah! That was almost three weeks ago! So I was home for conference, and when I drove back that Sunday night, I was just crying by the time I reached Park City. I felt awful. So I stayed home from school all day Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday I went to a clinic where they told me I just had a cold and I should get some rest and it will go away. Well it didn't. But I went back to school and went to work for the next two weeks. Only.... I wasn't getting better at all. In fact I was getting worse. Last Thursday I got up to get to school but by the time I got there I was almost in tears because my throat hurt so badly. I got a priesthood blessing and went home right after that. When I got home, I pulled out a flashlight to check my throat and found it visibly swollen, flaming red, and covered in white spots. So I went back to the clinic. Surprise! I have mononucleosis. And since I didn't know I had mono, I've been around tons of people over those two weeks. My bad everybody.

But mono really sucks. It's a virus so there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it. (AND they had to do a blood test to see if I had it.. ..... I. Hate. Needles.) So all you can do is sleep a lot, (which you really have no choice because you're exhausted and it's hard to just keep your eyes open) and wait for it to go away. The Doctor told me not to worry, "it can last anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months". Oh great! Thanks Doc! That sure makes me feel better. Anyway. Totally sucks.

So I have been waiting to get better, and I think I'm slowly recovering. But once I say that I'll get feel awful again a little while later.... I haven't practiced my instrument; I keep falling asleep during class; I don't even go to some of my classes. Basically I'm just not motivated at all. So... there ya have it. Mono is awful. Someone just make it go away.

And NO. I DID NOT GET MONO FROM SWAPPING SPIT. Oddly enough, I got it from being at work. Another girl there had it and I'm pretty sure I was cashier after her one day.

If you have any further questions just Google mono or something. This website also has quite a bit of information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001617/

Easter

On Saturday, I drove to Orem to meet Jayde at UVU. He was watching the track meet there. It was pretty cool. Go Union. Go Audrey. But after that, I let Jayde drag me around to find him some new shoes. A little backwards there - Jayde was the one wanting to do the shopping. haha.

After that, and after a faulty gps, we made it to the Jones house where Spencer, Tanner and Nate were with their cousins in their annual epic Easter egg coloring extravaganza. This year's theme for eggs was Heroes vs. Villains. So I decorated my one "Spiderman" egg. It was fun and I'm really glad I was there because that was the only "Easter" thing I did this year. (Cache did tell me about everything I missed back in Roosevelt though.)

I called my family Easter morning and talked to Cache mostly :) and then to Brynne for a while. I'm really excited and very much looking forward to being home with them again. I miss the little people. And even Chuck too. (And another significant person..)
But I went to church with Julie, and then later I went to Angela's house.

Angela's mom made a really good dinner but before that, I played a few games with her family. It was so fun!!  I have not laughed that hard in..... I have no idea, but I laughed so hard. Angela and her brothers are so funny. Actually her mom is too. Actually their whole family is funny. But I had such a good time; always laughing. So thank you Angela :) I had so much fun. When (note: I said "when") we live together next fall, it will be a party every day. But now I think that Angela definitely needs to meet my family now. (That would make it official Angela.) ;) So mom, I'm going to bring Angela to Roosevelt with me sometime soon. :) We just can't play Clue because Angela will win and we can't play Apples to Apples because I will win.

First Concert at Libby

This semester I am in the Utah Symphonic Band. And last night was our first concert. I thought it went pretty well. I like the songs we played especially Redwood, by Ryan George. It is a really pretty piece. Apparently recordings of this song just don't exist so everyone who wasn't there simply missed out. It was a little weird playing in Libby Gardner hall for the first time because acoustically, the hall is not set up for a band. It is set up for an orchestra. So everything echos. Like a lot. But I still thought we sounded good. (probably just shows how little I really know)

I failed though because I did not get any pictures. Oh well... I don't really like pictures anyway. 

The best part of the concert was the Utah Wind Ensemble. They sounded amazing! I loved it. They played the four movements of Maslanka's Symphony 7. It was so cool!! I thought the third movement was the coolest. (Finding a decent recording of it though is turning out to be really difficult. So you're going to have to trust me on this one too..) ((Come on people!! I need recordings of this stuff...))